Ilya Mikheyev scored 33 seconds into the first period, and Morgan Rielly had a goal and two assists for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 4-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens in an exhibition at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
Mikheyev played for the first time since having surgery to repair an artery and severed tendons in his wrist on Dec. 28. Rielly, who fractured his foot on Jan. 12 and missed 23 games, played Toronto’s final game of the regular season before the NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
Alexander Kerfoot scored twice, and Frederik Andersen made 28 saves for the Maple Leafs, who enter the Stanley Cup Qualifiers as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Carey Price made 19 saves, and Tomas Tatar and Paul Byron scored for the Canadiens, who are the No. 12 seed in the East.
Mikheyev gave the Toronto, which played as the road team in what is usually its home arena, a 1-0 lead on the first shot of the game 33 seconds into the first period.
Kerfoot made it 2-0 with a shorthanded goal at 6:46 of the second period, roofing a shot from the slot off a rebound.
After Tatar cut the lead to 2-1 at 16:56 of the second, Kerfoot scored again for a 3-1 lead with 25 seconds left in the period. Nicholas Robertson, an 18-year-old forward who is attempting to earn a spot in Toronto’s lineup, had the secondary assist on the goal.
Byron cut it to 3-2 on a backhand at 8:07 of the third period, but Rielly scored the Maple Leafs second shorthanded goal to make it 4-2 at 9:39
The Stanley Cup Qualifiers — eight best-of-5 series and two four-team round-robins — begin Aug. 1. Each of the 24 teams participating will play one exhibition game.
The Buds are in the building. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/gft1zcgNta
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 28, 2020
Boys of summer. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/dREaGtKW4T
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 28, 2020
Feels good to be home. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/K71RE5JJN5
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 28, 2020
bring 'em out, bring 'em out pic.twitter.com/I6PHJhwG6N
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 28, 2020
Warmup views 👀#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/bYI7CVGXQ1
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 28, 2020
“It’s been a while”#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/olXQwQ5fDR
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 28, 2020
Tonight's Leafs lines. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/d3C1TTSd7M
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020
We back. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/QqTOIi8984
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020
Textbook 2-on-1 📘#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/0437Ip7W5e
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020
Stronger Together. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/JU199kGChr
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020
Ilya Mikheyev opened the scoring for the @MapleLeafs in tonight’s exhibition game.@Souperman65 posted 0.59 points per game, ranking seventh among rookies in 2019-20 (min. 10 GP). #NHLStats #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/Iv2FP2k41c
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) July 29, 2020
Shorthanded speed 💨#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/8E70aZ950j
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020
Off to the races.#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/Qbl4wnzmmX
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020
Kerfoot's got another!#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/Cg9i4s98l6
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020
Got a piece of the point shot!#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/wj4cJOfzwi
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020
20 to go. Third period starts now!#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/D7vy9Pjgfe
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020
MO! Make it 4-2!#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/fp5FdaLBxA
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020
The PK is putting in work 💪#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/us6Kw9k3sU
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020
We Rielly missed this#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/P9yznHOzjh
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020
Total team effort in tonight's tune-up 🙌#LeafsForever #FuelledByG @GatoradeCanada pic.twitter.com/439pxIDHNX
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020
🎶 ooooh and it’s alright and it’s coming on
we gotta get right back to where we started from 🎶#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/SEOduqLW3F— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020
No decision yet as to whether Robertson plays in Game 1 vs Columbus, Keefe says. #Leafs
— Terry Koshan (@koshtorontosun) July 29, 2020
John Tavares on playing in tonight's atmosphere (or lack of): "The whole atmosphere is just different. That's what it takes to play now. You go with the flow and just try to focus on preparation as best you can."
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) July 29, 2020
#HockeyHugs with Freddie 🤗 #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/zm6ePGvBj3
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 29, 2020